Tom Young is still searching for a young sportsman or woman from Lanarkshire that he can pin Olympic hopes on.

That will result in the British Rowing coach heading in to schools in the Hamilton, Motherwell and surrounding areas, looking for those who fit the criteria for elite sports.

Tom also hopes somebody out there reading this might feel that they fit the criteria and fancy a go at rowing, using the World Class Start Programme available at Strathclyde Park, and utilising some of the best facilities in the country.

For the record, Tom is ideally looking for a female of 5ft 6ins and taller who is aged between 14 and 22, and/or a male athlete of 6ft 2ins and taller who is between 14-20, but they will give an opportunity and try out anyone who thinks rowing might be for them.

He said: “We are recruiting all year round. As long as the programme is running, we’re always looking.

“We’re a very open programme in that if we find the right person, if we identify the right person, we want to take them from then, basically, whether it’s the start of the season, the end of the season, or half-way through.

“The nature of talent identification is that you have certain criteria that is the most common among successful athletes in this area.

“It’s not 100 per cent accurate within the team, but 95 per cent of the make-up of any Team GB Olympic athletes would meet our criteria and we strive to narrow it down to that.

“The World Class Start Programme is very unique, and it’s one that a lot of other sports look up to. We take people from the broadest spectrum, from day one, having never rowed before, all the way up to the Olympic squad.

“Rowing runs a centralised programme where all Team GB athletes are based down in Reading, and our plan is that we have the facilities and the staffing available to us to get everyone from day one all the way through until they become part of the centralised programme.

“The facilities here are fantastic – it’s the only 2km rowing lake in Scotland, one of only three in the UK, and we’ve just hosted the European Championships, so that says something in itself.

“We have a gym that is currently being renovated that the programme has full access to, we have an indoor rowing tank – again the only one in the country, and one of only a handful in the UK – as well as several clubs that row out of Strathclyde Park, so there’s quite a big rowing scene here, but with the capacity for more people to join.”

Tom says even if people who want to row don't want to go on the World Class Start Programme, they can benefit from Strathclyde Park Rowing Club (Image: Norman Inglis/Hamilton Advertiser)

As Tom says, those who meet the criteria will be put onto the programme, where in years to come they will hopefully become successful athletes, but those with an interest in the sport have other avenues too, such as Strathclyde Park Rowing Club.

He said: “I have basically two parts to my job – one is to recruit athletes for the programme, so I go around the local schools, sport clubs, educate people on what rowing is and then to try to identify athletes who meet our criteria, as well as other athletes that may be interested in rowing. Whether they necessarily meet our criteria or not, the club itself has an open programme.

“The second half is to then develop those athletes, so I’m the only coach within this portion of the programme.

“There are plenty of other centres across the UK, each of them have a coach, some of them have more than one, but I’m the lead and only coach of the Strathclyde Park World Class Start Programme.

“On a day-to-day basis I write the programmes and coach the athletes combined with doing recruitment.

“I’m coming up to 18 months now. The centre opened when I started, so it’s still early days. We have athletes who have literally been rowing for 18 months and some even less than that – so we haven’t had an Olympics to target yet – which is obviously the pinnacle of the sport for the elite athletes we are aiming to develop to compete at.

“It will be a bit of time before the hard work comes to fruition and once we do see the results and get a few more years down the line, hopefully we’ll start to see success, both nationally within Scotland and then internationally as well.”

Anyone taking on the World Class Start Programme will be put into a programme that will intensify gradually, but Tom says that’s not usually an issue with his athletes.

He said: “Nobody starts playing a sport and does it twice a day, six days a week – but that’s certainly what international-level athletes build up to.

“It doesn’t start intense,it’s a gradual curve and it obviously depends on what level of attainment we’re looking at.

“If you are looking to be a national and international standard athlete it requires training and commitment. It’s not a three-sessions-a-week job if you’re looking to be an international.

“Whenever we take beginners on it starts off as a couple of sessions a week, then potential athletes will catch the bug and want to do more as they get competitive and more able physically and technically to up their training regime.

Tom says the newly-refurbished gym at the Rowing Academy will provide hopefuls with all the equipment they need, as well as an international-class rowing loch (Image: Norman Inglis/Hamilton Advertiser)

“It’s quite rare that we have to force athletes to train – they know what’s required and choose to put the work in.

“We monitor their training and recovery and we know what’s required and we facilitate them in doing that.”

Tom says the facilities and funding available for athletes at Strathclyde Park is enormous, and an opportunity that not many people across the UK have right on their doorstep. He said: “The support we get is brilliant.

“We’re Lottery-funded and through UK Sport and British Rowing, and similarly Scottish Rowing back this programme as well.

“We benefit from having two governing bodies supporting us, then you have Strathclyde Park Rowing Club and North Lanarkshire Council who help out as well – even councils outwith North Lanarkshire, because that’s where some of the athletes tend to come from.

“There is a huge amount to be gained from the World Class Start – it is one of a kind – and if you’re lucky enough to live nearby, absolutely you should be finding out if you’re the right person and give it a go.

“A lot of people around the UK don’t have the facilities necessary to start rowing, so if you have a sport that is readily available to you and it’s so heavily backed by governing bodies and councils, then it would be an absolute shame to waste it – that’s why I’m trying to get more people involved.

“I’m interested in getting into every school I can, and making myself known to teachers and pupils, get the programme known, and just let them know exactly what happens within the national and international rowing scene and how a talent ID would work.

“There are a lot of kids these days who are really interested in sport and the science that goes into it. It’s not just a case of being interested in sport, but there’s the coaching aspect and the science, and that can spark a lot of interest as well.”

So, how do people get onto the World Class Start Programme at Strathclyde Park?

“There are two ways in which people can get involved,” Tom says. “They can sign up for the World Class Start Programme via the British Rowing website, or they can just directly get in touch with me.

“Each pathway leads to the same thing, which is dealing directly with me and undergoing the recruitment process.

“My details are hopefully plastered everywhere and are easy to get hold of, and I myself think I’m quite easy to get in contact with as well”